Road planers and the like



Jan. 7, 1958 R. w. BON'D 2,818,664

ROAD PLANERS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 12, pass 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F! G. 3 3nnentor RAL PH 14 B ND I FM fwu attorneg Jan. 7, 1958 R. w. BOND 2,818,664

ROAD PLANERS .AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 12, 1955 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 1 RAZPH W.Ba/v0 a amzzw at tomeg United States Patent Q ROAD PLANERS AND THE LIKE Ralph W. Bond, West Springfield, Pa.

Application January 12, 1953, Serial No. 33%,351

13 Claims. (Cl. 37-150) This invention relates generally to road repairing machines and more particularly to road planers for leveling the aggregates such as gravel, stone, or earth to level the same preparatory to rolling and for repair work for cutting off high places in earth and gravel roads and filling in de pressions and holes, leaving a smooth and accurate surface on the road.

In road maintenance equipment, it has long been a problem to support the blades of the maintenance equipment in such manner that they are readily adjustable to various road contours. Hydraulic jacks have been tried to adjust the ends of the blades and the runners which rest on the ground and carry the blade rigidly supported therebetween but these were found to be unsatisfactory. It has also been a problem in the use of road planers to clear the blades of large bunches of earth, rock, and trash that sometimes pile up in front of the blades.

It is, accordingly, an object of my invention to provide a blade supporting mechanism for a road maintenance machine which will support the blade in a manner that the blade will adjust itself to various road surfaces.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel frame for road maintenance equipment.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel type of reinforcement for a blade for a road maintenance machine.

Another object of my invention is to provide an implement to be used in construction and repair maintenance 4 of roads constructed of earth, gravel, and other surfaces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a road planer or maintenance machine which is simple in design, durable in construction, and easy to operate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a road maintenance machine or planer which may be controlled by one operator and drawn by one tractive unit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel type of tractive unit hitch which will enable the blades of a road maintenance machine or planer to clear themselves of obstruction when the implement is backed up.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a road maintenance machine according to my invention;

Fig. 2 shows a side View of the machine shown in Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 shows a detailed enlarged view of one of the elements of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged front view of part of the frame of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2; i

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of my road planer showing a novel type of blade supporting means;

Fig. 6 shows a side view of the device shown in Fig. 5;

2,818,664 Patented Jan. 7, 1953 Fig. 7 shows a novel blade reinforcement; and

Fig. 8 is a view of part of the blade supporting means shown in Fig. 7.

Now with more specific reference to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a road maintenance machine having a main frame 1 and a blade supporting A-frame 2 supported on the main frame. The main frame is supported on the axle 3. Axle 3 is carried by wheels 4. The hitch 5 is pivotally connected to the main frame at 76 and adapted to be connected to a tractive unit by clevis 71.

The main frame is made up of two spaced parallel runners 11 and 12 connected at the front by arch 13 and at the rear by angle member 14 which is attached to axle 3 through angle irons 15. Angle irons 15 are attached to angle member 14 at 16 by Welding or other well known fastening means and are fastened to runner 11 at 17 and to runner 12 at 18 in a similar manner. Axles 3 are journalled in wheels 4 on hubs 19 in the conventional manner.

The axles 3 are located at a predetermined distance rearward of the runners 11 and 12 and the vertical distance between the bottom surface 21 of the runners and the bottom edge of the tire a may be adjusted by deinfiating or inflating the tires 22. This will cause the efifective diameter of the wheels 22a to change and the weight of the frame carried by the runners can be adjusted in this manner. In other words, by increasing the pressure in the tires, the hubs will be raised and the weight carried by the axle 3 will be increased and, thereby, decrease the wear on the runners. The depth that the blades cut into the road will also be decreased. Therefore, the draft required to draw the planer and the side slip of the planer can be regulated. By increasing the inflation of the tires, the rear end of the runners can be forced to clear the ground.

The A-frame is supported on the main frame by the support member 30 shown in detail in Fig. 3. The A- frame is made up of rigid. angular members or channels 23 attached'together by longitudinal braces 24 connected to the rearward member at 25 and the forward member at 26 by welding, riveting, or other means. The support for the A-frame is shown in Fig. 3 and is made up of the rod 31 which has the bottom thereof bent to pass through a hole 32 in the member 23 which is attached to the blade. The rod 31 extends upwardly through a hole 33a in bracket 36 through spring 33 and through washer 34. Nut 35 is provided on rod 31 to engage the top of washer 34. The bottom part of the helical spring 33 rests on the bracket 36 which is bent at 37 at right angles and extends downwardly and is attached to the main frame at 38. The vertical leg 39 of the runner is provided with a slot 40 through which bolt 41 extends. Angular lever 42 is pivoted to the vertical leg 39 of the runner member at 43 and has the bolt 41 extending therethrough. The front end of the lever member 42 has a hole 44 there through and bolts 45 extend through the hole 44 and terminate at the lower end thereof in the right angular hook portion 46 which engages a hole 47 in car 48. Bar 48 is attached to the horizontal leg of the runner angle at 49.. The nut 50 is welded to the tubular portion 51 at 52 and the tube 51 is welded to the lever 53 of the handle at 54 and 54a. A section of pipe 55 loosely engages the horizontal leg of the lever .at 56 and loosely engages the nut 50 at 57 in such manner that the lever 53 can be rotated freely without rotating the tubular member 55. The horizontal lever 53 of the crank is provided with a hand engaging portion 58 which has the dual function of being a hand engaging portion and also a counterweight. It will be noted in Fig. 2 that the support 30 and bolt 45 are inclined from a vertical position. By virtue of the fact that the support member 30 and bolt 45 are disposed at an angle and hand portion 58 acts as a counter-weight, the nut 50 is caused to bind on the thread and thereby prevent movement of the nut relative to the bolt 45.

From the description of Fig. 3, it will be seen that the A-frame may be supported by, the apex 6t) andrthe ends 61 and 62' bysupporting assemblies. When therunners are in contact wiih the ground and the blade 61 is clear of the ground, the A -frame is supported 'by the spring 33 and is suspended freelytherefrom. The bolt-41 slides freely in theslot 4i and the tube 55 is out of engagement with the lever 56 When the cutting edge of the blade engages the surfaee of the road, the A-frame will be forced upward until the front end of the lever 41 is; forced up until it engages the tube 55' and pushes, it into. engagement with the nut 50. When the lever 42, engages pipe 55" and nut 50 the blade will be held against further vertical movement. Any further vertieal movement of the blade will require that the runners be raised with the blade. When the runners are in contact with the ground, and the planer passes over a depression in the ground, the A-frame will drop downward and be, supported by the spring 33 through the rod. 31. When it is 'desired. to.

merely skin the surface of the road with the blade the main frame can be raised by extending cylinder. or jack 80 to support the framebetweenthe hitch 5.. and axle 3. A-frame 2will, then be suspended onspring 33.

The runners. are held together at the front thereof by the arch member madeup of the horizontal angle iron 65 which is welded to the lateral member 65, at 6.7 and the hitch 5 passes under the areh, member. The hitch is made up of the draw bar engaging. member 70 which has members 71 for attaehing to a draw bar of atractive machine and bell crank 72 isf pivoted tn the member 70 at 73 forming a vertical leg 74 and angularly. disposed leg 75. The leg 75 is pivoted. to the runner at 76 by a pin which passes through a holein the runner, The vertical leg. 74 is pivotally connected to, the piston rod 81- of the hydraulic cylinder 8!), at 7.7;.and the hydraulic cylinder is pivoted to the links. 7,044, of the bar ng mb r .0. t ha iukflha are; p i f ah y made of an angle iron and thehoriizontal leg rests on the horizontal e of t e memh r 7 =ah 12- he hydraulic cylinder is providfid. fluid under pressure from p es ure y t m h the? ave mashine hichpulls the planer.

The height of the. planer. abQl/e; the) rod is. controlled by means bf e y r uli l y inde 9-. When. t sired o f he p anta f hm ha 9fihidz hdh pressure. is applied to thecylinden 8Q,-whiehcauses the piston rod Leg member 75 forms a; bifurcated figure andextendslaterally to engage tlie nunpere. When it is desired to transport the. planer, the. hydraulic cylinder; isiexpanded.

and the planer is ca ri d. between the hitch 5; and, the axle 3. When it i s ,de sired tome rely serape lthe surface of the road, the hydraulie eylinder is retractedg thereby somewhat lowering the runners to allow the cutting. edge of the blade to engage the surface t e a i h r eceqi h& .Q 1-.-

lf'the cutting edges of; theble fih llfiwme, blocked by an abnormal amount offdirt or trash: in front ofpthem, the planer can be raised; by baclgingthe truckon tractive machine. A rearward, forpe on theimemben 71rof the draw bar engagingmemben-ZQ will cause. thezmainhframe and member 75 tn jachknife about; point 76, causing the front part of th tplaner toiraise otf'the ground and, consequently, the blades will beraised to clear the obstruction. Thisis; a novehfeature whichisinherent in the design of my novel planer. 1

Adjustment. of. the height ofthe A-frame. and, thereby, the depthtof cut of the cutting edges is obtained by rotating-the lever-530tthe memberQQ to force the front to rotate the bell cranh clockwise around piyot 73 and:

read without. allowing they 4 end ofthe lever 42- downward and, thereby, force the blade downward with regard to the runners. The tube 55'performs the dual purpose of being a force transmitting means and enclosing the threads to protect them from dirt, dust, and weather and to retain lubrication.

By the combination of the spring suspended blade with the positive force exerted by the tube 51, a reliable adjustment is provided which is free from lost motion and chatter and which; has qqnsidenable strength'in all the parts.

An enlarged: view of the manner of attaching the blade to the angle irons, or channels.- 23. isv shown; in Big. 7. The cutting member of the blade is attached to the channel 23 by means of" the bolts. 62-awhich are welded to the point of junction of the angle 63 with the legs 64 and 65a joined. The bolts are threaded at 66a to receive u 6 The bo t 6.2a. pas i rough ho es 68 n the m e 13- s he QttQm. por on. of thehlads h we rs own. e. olts. 2;; n h Put hmugh. e 7 her by QWQI QgJhQc tt hsp r ihn o he-b ade and increasing the life thereof. The angle 63 does not m n O u o o he ov m nt 13 efanh nrom of the blade. Conversely, the dirt slides up along the front edge f e. an s h led ov by e. a gle ly improving the action of the blade, The channel 23,. is bent in a concave manner at 68a. to form a recess for the; blade 61a to deflect into whenthe bolts 62a. aretightened.

Another embodiment of the invention isshown in Figs. 5 nd T e rfrarne 02is. upported on h ma n me b m ns. o a ruc ure mila to th how in Fig. 3. However, instead of the spring. arnangement, a counterweight arrangement isprQVid d, Theblades are attached to members 1 23 in a similar, manner to-that shown in Eigs 1 and 7. A lever 142. iapivoted to the mainframe at 14: andto, the A-frame. at 146. Counterweight frame 133 is balanced. on the: end of the lever at 156 Similar leversjare pivoted, at the other twp terminals of the A frarne. It will; be seen that when the. weight in the weight box 134, is increased, the tendency for thehm ar y ng h blade to eai d.- rom th r n hqreased.

In the foregoing specification, I have set forth; the

inventignin its preferred praetieal; forms butI' am aware t he ustulte shnw s apah fi o fiqat qn W h n.

a range of equivalents without departing from; the invention whi ch. is' to be understood; is bnoadly novel; as is cornmensurate i with the appended. claims.

What I elaim is;

A r adp n pr a mainf ame c mpr s n p a e r u s gi grhn ema b ade supp frame supported, on said main frame means te. support. said b ade ppo ing framev on aid main. r me. a supporting means comprising a lever pivotally mounted on said mainframe and pivotally connec to said-blade pp n e m t p int pa ed 0 a si. ma n. frame pivotal point, means to adjustably limitthenpward-movement of oneend of said. lever, said meansto; limit theupward m v m nt e gag ng ai lev r at. a point. spacedi from the pivotal connections whereby the upward; move-..

ment of said blade supporting frame is adjustably limited with regard to. said main. frame, and. resilifiutmeans to.

ge sai lad npq ti a ra e nwar 2'. The road planer recited in; claim; 1' wherein the ad,- justing means comprises a bolt attached to saidjmainiframe and extending through a hole in said leveraatnut disposed on said bolt attaehed thenetmand a section of pipe disposed between said nut and said; levels. said: section of pipe and, said, nutbeing: disposed; on said bolt -onra sidetof said lever remote from the connection of said bolt with d-ma n ram 3. Th road, planehreqitedin claim. 2-whereinsaid boltis disposed at an angle vg'thirespectto a. vertical line, a handle is attaehed to sai u t,4anda counterweight is pr ovided on said handle;wherebythetthreads on said nutare caused to bindwon the bolt threada 4. The road planer recited in claim 2 wherein a piece of pipe is welded to said nut and telescopically disposed on said bolt on the side remote from said section of pipe and a handle is connected to said piece of pipe.

5. The road planer recited in claim 1 wherein the ad justing means comprises a bolt attached to said main frame and extending through a hole in said lever, a nut disposed on said bolt attached thereto, a section of pipe disposed between said nut and said lever, said section of pipe and said nut being disposed on said bolt on a side of said lever remote from the connection of said bolt with said main frame, and a bracket attached to said main frame.

6. The road planer recited in claim 5 wherein a handle is attached to the nut.

7. The road planer recited in claim 6 wherein a counterweight is attached to the end of the handle whereby the nut is caused to bind on the bolt, thereby preventing the nut from rotating on the bolt.

8. The road planer recited in claim 5 wherein said blade supporting frame comprises two blade suporting members disposed at an angle to each other and the frame is supported at each end by one adjusting means.

9. A road planer comprising a main frame comprising two parallel ground engaging runners, a blade supporting frame supported on said main frame, means to support said blade suporting frame on said main frame, said supporting means comprising a lever pivotally mounted on said main frame and pivotally connected to said blade supporting frame at a point spaced from said main frame pivotal point, means to adjustably limit the upward movement of one end of said lever, said means to limit the upward movement engaging said lever at a point spaced from the pivotal connections whereby the upward movement of said blade supporting frame is adjustably limited with regard to said main frame, resilient means to urge said blade supporting frame upward, one end of said main frame having a hitch pivotally attach-ed thereto, said hitch comprising a draw bar engaging member, a link pivoted to said draw bar en gaging member at an intermediate point on said link, said link being pivoted to said main frame at one end of said link, an extendable link attached to the other end of said link and to said draw bar engaging member, and means on said main frame engaging said link to limit the downward movement but allow free upward movement thereof, the end of said main frame opposite said hitch being supported by two ground engaging wheels.

10. A road planer comprising a main frame comprising two parallel ground engaging runners, a blade supporting frame supported on said main frame, means to support said blade supporting frame on said main frame, said supporting means comprising a lever pivotally mounted on said main frame and pivotally connected to said blade supporting frame at a point spaced from said main frame pivotal point, means to adjustably limit the upward move ment of one end of said lever, said means to limit the upward movement engaging said lever at a point spaced from the pivotal connections whereby the upward movement of said blade supporting frame is adjustably limited with regard to said main frame, resilient means to urge said blade supporting frame upward, one end of said main frame having a hitch pivotally attached thereto, said hitch comprising a draw bar engaging member, a link pivoted to said draw bar engaging member at an intermediate point on said link, said link being pivoted to said main frame at one end of said link, an extendable link attached to the other end of said link and to said draw bar engaging member, and means on said main frame engaging said link to limit the downward movement but allow free upward movement thereof, the end of said main frame opposite said hitch being supported by two ground engaging wheels, said hitch being connected to said main frame at a point below said draw bar engaging member whereby when said draw bar engaging member is moved backward, said main frame is free to be lifted to clear obstructions of Cir foreign material accumulated under said blade supporting frame.

11. The road planer recited in claim 1 wherein said resilient means to urge said blade supporting frame upward comprises coil compression springs attached to said main frame and to the ends of said blade supporting frame, said compression springs supported on said main frame, a rod extending through said compression springs and having means supported on said rod on the end of said springs remote from said runners, said rod being pivotally connected to said blade supporting frame at the lower end thereof below said compression springs, said blade supporting frame compressing said compression springs when said blade is not supported by a surface to allow said blade supporting frame to extend below said main frame when said blade supporting frame is not supported by a supporting surface.

12. A road planer comprising two generally parallel spaced, longitudinally extending runners, said runners being rigidly connected together, an A-shaped frame with each leg of the A frame having a cutting member attached to the lower forward edge adapted to engage the surface of a road, the apex of said A-shaped frame and the end opposite said apex of each said leg having coil compression springs attached thereto, said compression springs supported on said runners at the lower end thereof, a rod extending through said compression springs and having means supporting said rod on the end of said springs remote from said runners, said rod being pivotally connected to said A-shaped frame at the lower ends thereof below said compression springs, said A-shaped frame being adapted to compress said compression springs to have its lower edge extend below the lower surface of said runners when unsupported by engagement with a road surface or other supporting surface, means-to limit the upward movement of said A-shaped frame, the rear end of each of said runners being supported by wheels and the front end having a tongue attached thereto, said tongue comprising a bell crank having one end pivotally attached thereto, a drawbar engaging member, an intermediate point of said drawbar engaging member being pivotally attached to an intermediate point on said bell crank, a hydraulic cylinder attached between one end of said bell crank and a point on said drawbar engaging member spaced from said pivotal point to said bell crank, and means to limit the upward movement of said bell crank and adapted to lift the front end of said planer to lift said runners off the ground whereby the rear end thereof is carried by said wheels.

13. The road planer recited in claim 11 wherein means is provided to limit the upward movement of said blade supporting frame.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 94,542 Baker Sept. 7, 1869 826,418 Furr July 17, 1906 894,552 Warner July 28, 1908 1,691,854 Overman Nov. 13, 1928 1,710,110 Penny Apr. 23, 1929 1,775,297 Towner Sept. 9, 1930 1,796,588 Buddenbrock Mar. 17, 1931 1,836,168 Hendricks Dec. 15, 1931 1,943,594 Flatley Jan. 16, 1934 2,021,660 Gledhill et al Nov. 19, 1935 2,160,193 Arndt May 30, 1939 2,189,745 Johnson Feb. 6, 1940 2,310,396 Clinkscales Feb. 9, 1943 2,349,130 Allen May 16, 1944 2,502,217 Guibor Mar. 28, 1950 2,549,734 White Apr. 17, 1951 2,593,880 Heavlin Apr. 22, 1952 2,614,346 Howard Oct. 21, 1952 

